Uncharted: The Crystal of Dreams
by wrecked apocolypse
Summary: When a terrorist travels to America to collect a mythical artifact, with unimaginable power, from an unlikely place with an unlikely history, the U.S. government hires Drake to be their go-man, and save the country from ruin. Rating tentative. ExD


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the _Uncharted_ series' original cast list or scenarios. They belong to Naughty Dog.

**Chapter 1**

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A small square bottle, only half full of amber colored liquid, sat silently under the dim light of a flickering candle on a short, bedside table. The sheets were tousled around two bodies in the hot heat. Both the events of just twenty minutes earlier and the humidity, made those sheets cling tightly to their skin.

One figure breathed steadily, sleeping with a strong arm draped around the other, his face nuzzled into her neck. However the other admired the small bottle; she had always pegged him as a Stetson man. Her right hand carefully reached for the golden lid of the bottle, carelessly tossed aside, and, after grabbing it, she gently toyed with it between her delicate fingers.

She put down the small cap, taking a new interest in his draped arm. It hung just above her hips. She gently played her fingers across his skin. Soft as it was, it had scars of various degrees along the way which made her wonder if treasure hunting was always so dangerous. From her own accounts with the reckless explorer, she knew how risky the journey could be; but, were they always full of mad men and sharply outfitted mercenaries trying to beat you to the punch? She frowned at the concerning thought and continued to study what she could see of him.

The glow from the candle lent his fairly tan skin a more orange tint. She could feel the lukewarm metal of the ring he wore around his neck pressing against her naked back and she smiled, her mess of blond hair hiding his features.

His breath tickled her neck, and suddenly she felt his voice rumbling in a low, contented growl. His grip tightened on her waist, somewhat jolting her enough to glance back at him. He had a smirk on his lips, from what she could tell, and his eyes were lazily open. She made a small giggle, nothing high pitched, and formed to his body.

"What're you doing awake?" he asked in a lazy, inquisitive tone between a small stretch.

She shifted her position, so she was facing him, nose to nose. "Not a whole lot," she answered surely, "just thinking a little." She managed a tired smile. "About my good looks and to die for body I bet, eh, eh?" He cracked a smile, pulling her in closer, as he chuckled briefly.

Elena's eyes traveled him seductively, but jolted back up to meet his own with sarcasm lacing them, "you wish." She offered a sly smile after seeing Drake's mock look of pain. He grabbed her hand in his and kissed each finger, speaking every time he kissed a new one, "so what were you really thinking about?" His eyes focused in on her features, studying her quietly.

"About this whole, you know," her glance shifted away from him as she became unsure, "…this whole treasure hunting business. I mean, I'm not trying to be negative or anything. It's just that it's…dangerous." Drake's sharp eyes sifted through her uneasy speech, "but you've gotta admit, it's good money." He smiled but didn't get one in return. He ventured that she really was pretty serious about it.

In fact, Elena did look pretty worried about it. "Do you always take on dangerous jobs like _El Dorado_? Just for money?" She emphasized 'El Dorado', seeing as it had been nearly half a year since their excursion. Surprisingly, in the vast amount of time that had elapsed they never once had a serious conversation about the nature of his business, despite the fact that Elena had made a few short webisodes based on some of Drake's smaller, less glorious adventures.

It was the _after sex talks _that always bothered him, made him nervous. He never knew what she would bring up, and for a while, he was sure that this sort of conversation wouldn't surface; but, it was bound to happen.

"Well no. I mean, I'm an adventurer, Elena; it's a thrill. The adrenaline pumping, the satisfaction that you've achieved something and beat the other guy to it…it all adds up to the experience." He smiled half heartedly and joked, "I even enjoy the educational view point."

Elena's small figure shook with light laughter. "Nate, it just worries me sometimes," she grew more serious. "With everything we've been through, I don't want to lose you, not just for some lost treasure." She toyed absent mindedly with the ends of her hair, looking away from him. His large hands gently cupped her face, redirecting her gaze back towards him.

"C'mon, you know better." He kissed her softly, chuckling. "I survived ancient Spaniards in loin cloths, foaming at the mouth with claws and-" Elena interrupted, "the point?" She snuggled closer to him.

"I can survive anything, of course." He stated this proudly, gripping her frame tightly.

"But you know, out of all the spoils I've ever gotten," he looked down at her sincerely, "you're my favorite." Elena eyed him with skepticism, slightly pulling away.

"Okay, what are you up to?" "What can't I be even a little sentimental? I don't do everything for a reward, ya' know." He acted hurt, but his look vanished when Elena began playfully kissing his jaw line.

"But really?" She asked, muffled by his slightly scruffy skin.

He rolled onto his back causing her motions to stop, "I'm really that easy?" He moved his arms from beneath her, laying one to his side and the other across his forehead. "Sully got a new offer." Drake breathed out the words forcefully, wondering what kind of response he would get from her. She was always alright with the small odd jobs they received from museums, and, notably, they were quite good at finding small artifacts in the local regions. It paid a decent buck, but nothing big had crossed their path in a long while. Nate didn't want to end up as one of those archeologists who waste away, working as a museum tour guide. The thought gave him chills: no adventure, no fun; no reward. He frowned inwardly.

Elena sat up in the bed, holding the covers to her chest. "This isn't one of those museum jobs…is it?" She already knew the answer. Drake never took one of the small jobs so seriously, nor did he avoid it with her.

"I didn't want to tell you," he sat up to her height and looked at her directly, expecting to be scolded. She did so with her eyes, giving him a disappointed look. "And why was that?" Firmly, she folded her arms over her chest, an agitated expression forming on her features.

"I was just thinking," he started cautiously, "about the last time. When you were captured by Roman and Navarro…it just made me scared I guess." He frowned and softly rubbed her shoulders, "I just didn't want to see it happen again."

She raised a brow in question, "and what makes you so sure that they'll be mad men chasing us or that it runs a higher risk than normal?" He eyed her sharply before getting up and grabbing a manila envelope off a black dresser behind him, "the government assigned us this job."

A look of surprise crossed her face, but she held off her words. Her eyes followed his fit form as he walked back to the bed; he pulled out a few papers and two pictures.

"They haven't given out too many details yet, but the Department of Defense really made this look like a serious issue." He grinned at her with boyish excitement, "I've been waiting for something like this for a long time, Elena. Something," he paused, "totally macho."

Drake handed her one of the photos which depicted the Grand Canyon, "like I said, I don't know much, but apparently is has something to do with the Grand Canyon. And take a look at this," he moved closer to Elena, bringing his index finger to a highlighted portion of the picture, "see this opening in the canyon wall? There's rumored to be some sort of ancient pathways carved in the canyon from millennia ago."

The hole in the face of the canyon was hard to make out due to the quality of the photograph, probably taken by an airplane within the region. Vaguely, one could make out some sort of embellishment, but it was hard to tell if what looked like decoration was just the natural look of the rocky surface.

Drake opened the envelope, putting the papers back in. He set the package on the night stand to his left, turning back towards Elena to hear her response on the matter.

Elena sighed after thinking about all of their other adventures and what all she might be getting herself into, "as long as you and Sully _promise _to take me with you. I don't want to miss out on the action, Big Guy." She smiled in a quirky fashion, pulling him in close.

"And you know that's true." Drake winked at her before kissing her, but he pulled away to glance at the clock.

"Woah, three o'clock," he settled back into the covers beside Elena, "we need to sleep. The meeting with the Defense Secretary is tomorrow at ten in the morning." He got a little giddy with excitement, "and it'd be _so_ cool if we got pulled into bullet proof limos to get there. _So cool_."

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A/N: _Well, I've been out of the writing game on here for quite some time, but with everything that's been happening these past 3 or 4 years since I started using this site, I've been far too busy to write. I've been watching a lot of Castle lately which really made me want to write, and while I've been watching Castle, I've been thinking about Uncharted. So in essence, I'm writing this fiction to cure the tension I've been feeling with my being obsessed with the story line and characters. _

_This chapter is pretty short, but with it being sort of an introductory paragraph, I didn't want to give a lot away. Hopefully you guys like what I've got for you, so lend me your thoughts about it so far if you'd like. I'd be happy to hear what you think about the first chapter.  
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